Please be patient with me as a newvbie here, having never owned a cutter. But I've owned and worked on dozens of wide format inkjet printers, all HP products.
I picked up a used GX300 cutter about a year ago and have just tried getting it working. I'm familiar with hooking up printers but this device has me stumped. I'm using a desktop computer with Windows 10 64 bit. I've also tried a laptop with Windows 7 32 bit and no change in the problem. I've downloaded the appropriate drivers for each OS from the Roland website.
Some background: I got the cutter free when I purchased an HP Designjet Z5400 from a local college auction. The cutter had a note on it that said the motherboard needed replacing and "Needs company to install drivers on board". (Not sure what that means.) It included a spare motherboard but I wasn't certain if the spare board was the new one or the old one. I downloaded a copy of the owner's manual and I got it to load the vinyl. It let's me use the menu to cut a demo from the menu page. But couldn't get it to connect to the computer. So I put in the other board to see if that was the problem. When I turn on the cutter now I get the message "GX-300 function firm J210 Push enter key". I push the enter key and get a brief message that says "GX-300 Function Firm Start" The carriage moves slightly, the red light on the carriage comes on and the display reads "Check Cropsensor Error 35(b)" and the red light stays lit. That's it. So I powered down and manually moved the carriage all the way to the left and power back on. The same sequence happens but the carriage moves back to it's home spot before showing the same error message. I haven't been able to find out what error 35(b) means, using google, anywhere when searching. I've only been able to find the owner's manual online, no service manual that I've come across. I've also searched on this forum but haven't found anything that addresses this error message.
I put the other board back in and now can still do a demo cut but still can't get a connection going. I downloaded a copy of CutStudio and when going to the properties, I push the button "Get From Machine" to set up a paper size but get an error saying 'The Machine is Not Responding". So definetly have no connection with the cutter.
I've downloaded the drivers from Roland and installed them but can't get a connection going with either board. I keep getting an error in the print queue. I'm connecting with a USB cable directly from my computer to the cutter. I know the cable is good because it's the same one that works with my inkjet printer. I don't know if the motherboard is causing the problem or if I'm just doing something wrong with the connection process. I've hooked up dozens of HP Designjet printers over the years (I do repairs on them) so I'm familiar with connection problems. But can't seem to see where I'm going wrong with this one. And have no idea what or where the crop sensor might be located so I could check it and what I should be looking for that would generate that error message. I'm assuming it's on the carriage but not sure.
I realize this is a very old cutter but it appears to still work well, judging by the demo it put out so I'd like to get it working to use for personal use. I would sure appreciate it if anyone can shed some light on these problems. Or can tell me if a service manual exists for these machines and where I could source one. Thanks in advance.
I picked up a used GX300 cutter about a year ago and have just tried getting it working. I'm familiar with hooking up printers but this device has me stumped. I'm using a desktop computer with Windows 10 64 bit. I've also tried a laptop with Windows 7 32 bit and no change in the problem. I've downloaded the appropriate drivers for each OS from the Roland website.
Some background: I got the cutter free when I purchased an HP Designjet Z5400 from a local college auction. The cutter had a note on it that said the motherboard needed replacing and "Needs company to install drivers on board". (Not sure what that means.) It included a spare motherboard but I wasn't certain if the spare board was the new one or the old one. I downloaded a copy of the owner's manual and I got it to load the vinyl. It let's me use the menu to cut a demo from the menu page. But couldn't get it to connect to the computer. So I put in the other board to see if that was the problem. When I turn on the cutter now I get the message "GX-300 function firm J210 Push enter key". I push the enter key and get a brief message that says "GX-300 Function Firm Start" The carriage moves slightly, the red light on the carriage comes on and the display reads "Check Cropsensor Error 35(b)" and the red light stays lit. That's it. So I powered down and manually moved the carriage all the way to the left and power back on. The same sequence happens but the carriage moves back to it's home spot before showing the same error message. I haven't been able to find out what error 35(b) means, using google, anywhere when searching. I've only been able to find the owner's manual online, no service manual that I've come across. I've also searched on this forum but haven't found anything that addresses this error message.
I put the other board back in and now can still do a demo cut but still can't get a connection going. I downloaded a copy of CutStudio and when going to the properties, I push the button "Get From Machine" to set up a paper size but get an error saying 'The Machine is Not Responding". So definetly have no connection with the cutter.
I've downloaded the drivers from Roland and installed them but can't get a connection going with either board. I keep getting an error in the print queue. I'm connecting with a USB cable directly from my computer to the cutter. I know the cable is good because it's the same one that works with my inkjet printer. I don't know if the motherboard is causing the problem or if I'm just doing something wrong with the connection process. I've hooked up dozens of HP Designjet printers over the years (I do repairs on them) so I'm familiar with connection problems. But can't seem to see where I'm going wrong with this one. And have no idea what or where the crop sensor might be located so I could check it and what I should be looking for that would generate that error message. I'm assuming it's on the carriage but not sure.
I realize this is a very old cutter but it appears to still work well, judging by the demo it put out so I'd like to get it working to use for personal use. I would sure appreciate it if anyone can shed some light on these problems. Or can tell me if a service manual exists for these machines and where I could source one. Thanks in advance.